“Burn!” (aka Queimada) (1969) is a film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo loosely based on a failed uprising in Guadalupe but also serves as an amalgamation of many incidents throughout the history of western exploitation of the global south. Marlon Brando stars as William Walker, a character named after the American filibuster but is a British agent in the film. He arrives in the fictional island of Queimada to foment a slave revolt against the Portuguese regime in order to install a government controlled by British plantation owners. A decade later, when an uprising occurs against the plantation-controlled regime, Walker is sent back to install an even more corporate-beholden government but things don’t go exactly as planned. Burn! features great performances from Marlon Brando and Evaristo Márquez in his debut role as a revolutionary leader. The film is also notable for its excellent direction by Pentecorvo (who previously directed The Battle of Algiers) and soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (best known for his music for films of Sergio Leone).
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five
continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara (2011) transports us
to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial
complexes, and natural wonders.
“Short Peace” (2013) is an anthology of diverse anime short films each from a different director including Hajime Katoki (Patlabor) and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). Possessions is an animist ghost story in which a lone traveler struggles against spirits haunting an abandoned shrine. Combustable tells a story of love and honor using the style of a classic Japanese scroll painting. Gambo depicts a fight between a giant white bear diety and a grotesque red demon from outer space. A Farewell to Weapons takes place in a post-apocalyptic city where a nomadic platoon encounters a renegade robotic death machine. Based on a manga of the same name by Katsuhiro Otomo.
“Sleep Dealer” (2008) is a dystopian parable directed and co-written by Alex Rivera. Luis Fernando Peña stars as Memo, a hacker who also works as a type of virtual migrant worker. It’s revealed through flashback how his situation was a result of a drone attack on his family and homestead. While trying to find work, Memo meets Luz (Leonor Varela), a fellow hacker who, with additional assistance from a repentant drone pilot in the US, helps him strike a blow against the system.
Who would have guessed that the greatest animated Christmas story would be an anime set in Tokyo? I would have had my doubts before seeing Satoshi Kon’s “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003). Unlike the majority of Kon’s filmography, the film’s relatively simple plot centers on three homeless friends who upon finding an abandoned baby set out on a quest to track down the parents. The homeless protagonists are not mere stereotypes but complex individuals with unique backstories which is especially remarkable since homeless people continue to be underrepresented in films (despite growing numbers). Like other Christmas fables, it has its share of sentimentality and reliance on convenient coincidences (ie. miracles), but it’s elevated by beautiful artwork and a finely crafted blend of realism, humor, action and earned emotional uplift. This was only Satoshi Kon’s third feature production and his penultimate film. Kon passed away much too soon from pancreatic cancer on August 24, 2010 at the age of 46.
Media hype surrounding the release of the latest Star Wars film is similar to the release of the previous films in the series except for the fact that prior to the release of the first installment, few outside the sci-fi community predicted it’d be such a success. Though it’s too early to tell how much of an enduring cultural impact The Force Awakens will have, in hindsight the impact of A New Hope has been substantial. It definitely raised the bar for effects-laden “event” films and marked a transition point for Hollywood from releasing films with a more gritty pessimistic tone and European-influenced aesthetic of the early and mid seventies to films with larger budgets and more optimistic “retro” sensibilities of the late seventies and beyond.
Star Wars also upped the ante for the potential boon to be had not just for studios but from merchandising partnerships, multimedia spin-offs expanding the franchise universe and countless opportunists attempting to cash in. Kids growing up in the post-Star Wars era had no shortage of Star Wars toys and products to choose from (or Star Wars-like toys and products) which helped boost a generation’s interest in sci-fi, space and technology. On television kids and adults could get their sci-fi fix through such shows as Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Quark, and an anime from 1974 repackaged as Star Blazers for American audiences. Meanwhile Hollywood was diving head-first into the sci-fi/fantasy resurgence with Disney’s The Black Hole, a space-bound James Bond in Moonraker, new versions of Superman, Star Trek and Flash Gordon, Ridley Scott’s Alien, and Jimmy Murakami (When the Wind Blows) and Roger Corman’s Battle Beyond the Stars among others.
Movie producers around the world also jumped on the bandwagon with films as diverse as Os Trapalhões (The Dabblers) from Brazil and Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saved the World), also known as “Turkish Star Wars” due to the filmmaker’s liberal use of Star Wars footage for spliced in effects shots and backdrops. As many horrible examples of this subgenre of world cinema as there are, there’s at least two I’ve found to be charming and enjoyable in their own ways: Message From Space (Japan, 1978) and Starcrash (Italy, 1979). Both feature eclectic casts with hammy performances (eg Vic Morrow and Sonny Chiba in Message From Space and Caroline Munro, Christopher Plummer and David Hasselhoff in Starcrash), both have low-budget yet creative production design, and like Star Wars, they also make a decent attempt at recombining various mythological and cinematic tropes to create new fantasy worlds. Message From Space also had the benefit of having Kinji Fukasaku in charge, the auteur who also directed Black Lizard, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, and Battle Royale.
Branded (2012) is a Russian-US sci-fi parable written and directed by Jamie Bradshaw and Aleksandr Dulerayn. Much of the story is told in flashbacks documenting the rise, fall and rebirth of top-level advertising executive Misha (Ed Stoppard, son of playwright Tom Stoppard). Upon being scapegoated for a marketing disaster, Misha withdraws to the countryside where in a trance state he’s compelled to perform a bizarre ritual. Shortly after, he finds he has a unique ability to “see” strange parasitic creatures which are the embodiment of corporate influence. Horrified, Misha sets out to destroy the creatures of his visions, a quest which could ultimately liberate society but at the expense of his personal and professional life. Though the film is hindered by uneven tonal shifts and occasionally stilted performances, Branded is notable for its relevant social critique which mixes elements of Putney Swope,They Live and novels of Philip K. Dick.
“Wave Twisters” (2001) is a mindbending homage to hip-hop culture set to the music of DJ Q-Bert. Using a mix of live-action, CG and cel animation, it tells the story of a heroic team who confronts an army of anti-hip-hop oppressors with the help of a powerful weapon known at the Wave Twister. Buckethead, D-Styles and Flare also contribute to the excellent soundtrack.
After the Crash 